


showing up at my door

by jdphoenix



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Episode: s01e12 Seeds, Established Relationship, F/M, One-Sided Attraction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-10
Updated: 2018-08-10
Packaged: 2019-06-25 12:48:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15641079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jdphoenix/pseuds/jdphoenix
Summary: All Skye asks is that Ward not ruin Fitz's return to the Academy. It's not his fault if she doesn't have all the facts to know that's pretty much impossible.





	showing up at my door

**Author's Note:**

  * For [shineyma](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shineyma/gifts).



> An early birthday gift for the lovely shineyma. This has ... literally none of the things you asked for. Okay, maybe one. But I hope you enjoy it anyway. <3

“Okay.” Skye grabs Chapman’s hand before she can leave the kitchen. The lounge is clear—Fitz is packing downstairs and Ward’s in the armory—so they’ve got a few minutes. She drags her to the couch and sits her down, sitting sideways next to her so she can look her in the eye. “Who—or what—is Fitz-Simmons and how scared should I be?”

For two whole seconds Chapman just stares and then her brain catches up and she giggles like Skye just told her a joke.

“Not scared at all,” she says, only for her smile to fall. Her eyes catch on something over Skye’s shoulder but when Skye looks, there’s nothing there. “Maybe a little. Simmons is Fitz’s old partner. They were like … SciTech’s personal celebrities. They’re the two youngest ever to graduate and one of their old formulas was used in the prototype that nearly killed those cadets. So, naturally, they’ll both be called in to consult.”

“Oh.” That doesn’t sound so bad. “But why is Fitz so skittish about it?” He’s been on edge ever since Coulson told them this morning they’d be dropped off at the Academy. Last she saw he was tearing apart the lab—that’s probably why Chapman’s up here—and he’s already changed his shirt twice. “Did they have a fight or something?”

Again, Chapman looks past Skye. “Well, that’s … complicated. There are a lot of rumors about what happened but-”

“You’ve never bothered to ask him?”

Chapman shakes her head quickly. “It was years ago. And it’s none of my business.”

Skye rolls her eyes. “Like you never ask what happened between Fitz and Ward, right?” At first Skye thought it was just a guy thing. Ward’s so grumpy and it had probably taken a lot for him to get used to Hastings, having him replaced so fast was sure to sting. And it’s not like Fitz is a people person, so it made sense it’d take them a while to get along.

Only then Ward got exposed to the berserker staff and it became obvious there was history there. Really, really bad history.

Chapman opens her mouth to answer but snaps it shut again when the heavy door to the catwalk creaks open. Speak of the devil, it’s Ward. He gives them a friendly nod on his way to reading by the windows and apparently his presence is enough to stop Chapman spilling the nerd drama. Lame.

May appears from above, coming down the office steps. “Landing in twenty,” she says.

“What were you and Coulson talking about?” Skye asks, stopping her on her way to the cockpit. “Planning a little inter-Academy prank? You gonna steal the mascot?”

Chapman giggles again but May just keeps up her ice queen stare. “Coulson and I won’t be coming. We’re dropping you four and then we’ve got an errand of our own.”

“What?” Skye twists, trying to track May, but she’s too fast. She looks from her to Ward to Chapman, but nobody seems even a little bit concerned about this. Chapman just bites her lip and shrugs before heading downstairs, leaving Skye with Mr. Oblivious over here.

Seriously, _what_.

Skye stomps over to the windows and drops into the chair across from Ward. “Are you seriously okay with this?”

He lifts his eyes from his book to her, then follows May’s path to the cockpit. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Coulson was _kidnapped_ and _tortured_.”

“Two things he’s trained to handle,” Ward says in a way that says eventually _she’s_ gonna have to learn to handle those things too. Goody. “And he’s not taking a mission, he and May are just going off to…”

“You don’t know either!” She knocks her feet against his boots. “This can’t be safe.”

“He’s got May with him and you know it’s not a mission because Chapman hasn’t cleared him yet. It’ll be fine. Besides, someone’s gotta cover you three at the Academy.”

“Uh huh.” Personally, Skye’s pretty sure Ward would rather have dental surgery than go with them. He _flinched_ this morning when Chapman started gushing about seeing _the_ Fitz-Simmons. If whatever bad blood there is between him and Fitz goes back far enough, it’s possible Simmons was part of it. And equally possible Fitz is the one Ward _likes_. There’s a scary thought. “You’re not gonna cause any trouble, are you?”

“SciTech doesn’t have a mascot.”

“That’s not what I mean.”

He gives her this _look_ and suddenly all she wants to do is squirm. “Then what did you mean?”

She thinks about telling him about her suspicions, but the actually asking is just … impossible. Especially when Ward’s got that I’m-not-hurt-because-I-don’t-think-I-deserve-friends face going.

So instead she gives a pathetic little shrug and says, “I dunno. You and Fitz don’t get along and it seems like this is a big deal for him…”

Ward’s mouth opens in that smile he gets sometimes—usually when Fitz is losing at game night. “Don’t worry,” he says. Yeah, like she can help it when he looks like _that_. “I’ve got my own business at SciTech. I’ll keep out of Fitz’s way as much as possible.”

“All right. Well, that’s … good?”

“Yeah, it is.” Ward lifts his book. “Can I get back to this? I’m nearly done and we don’t have much time before we’re there.”

“Yeah, yeah. Enjoy.”

Skye heads for her bunk and quietly hopes that Ward really means it.

 

 

=====

 

 

The Academy looks like every glossy college brochure Skye’s ever seen. Grassy lawns, pristine buildings, students who are just super excited about learning. It’s kinda weird seeing it all come to life, honestly.

“Leo,” a smiling woman says, approaching them to shake Fitz’s hand. “Alice.”

“Agent Weaver,” Fitz and Chapman both say, Chapman a little more quietly than Fitz. “Weaver is SciTech’s headmistress,” he says to Skye and Ward before adding, to Weaver, “It’s good to see you.”

“Likewise. It’s been far too long. When are you going to leave the field and teach a seminar?”

Fitz shoves his hands into his pockets like an embarrassed schoolboy. “Eventually.”

“Eventually, he says.” Weaver turns to the rest of them like they’ll share in her fond annoyance, but the smile on her face turns chilly when she really sees them. For a second Skye thinks it’s her—there’s no telling how far word spread about that incident at the Hub a few months back and she doesn’t expect the headmistress to be too fond of troublemakers—but then Weaver says, “Agent Ward,” and it’s the most blatant _this asshole again_ Skye’s ever heard.

But Ward doesn’t react to the tone. He just returns a stiff, “Agent Weaver,” while around them the temperature’s gotta drop at least ten degrees.

“Ward is our team’s threat assessment agent,” Chapman says. “And this is Skye, our hacker-slash-consultant.”

“A hacker,” Weaver says and yep, definitely not fond of troublemakers.

“She’s brilliant,” Fitz says. “Saved Coulson’s life last month.”

“ _Fitz_ ,” Skye says, fighting a blush. She is _so_ gonna kill him for this later.

“Did she? Well, you’ll have to tell me about it. Now, Fitz, we should discuss the lecture. I know you’ve attended a few in your time but-”

While Weaver and Fitz talk shop, Skye leans back into Ward’s space to whisper, “They don’t like you around here, do they?”

Chapman, standing close enough to hear everything, makes a strangled sort of noise. “That’s not true-”

“Nope,” Ward agrees.

“What’d you do? Epic senior prank? I bet you were a total hellion when you were in school. You’re probably the one who stole the mascot and _that’s_ why they don’t have one.”

Ward grins tightly. “Something like that.” He taps her elbow. “You two stick close to Fitz and Weaver. I’m gonna take a look around the perimeter.”

“Of the _school_?” Chapman asks loudly enough to draw a little attention their way.

“Yeah,” Ward says, stiff again with Weaver’s eyes on him. “I don’t exactly have a lot of fans around here, I’d like to check the exits.”

Chapman frowns at him. “No one’s gonna try to kill you. Probably.”

“Uh huh. I’ll see you guys at the lecture.” He gives Skye a meaningful look. “I’ve got my phone if there’s trouble.”

“So do I,” she says in what she hopes is a stern enough tone to remind him he _promised_ not to cause any.

Whatever he was like in school, these days Ward is the last person she’d expect to pull a prank or cause trouble for the heck of it, but that rule only applies when Fitz isn’t involved. Ward’s never done anything truly out of line, but every time there’s an opportunity to piss Fitz off, Skye can _see_ him thinking about it. He’s like a cat thinking about pushing a glass off a counter. (Actually one time he was literally like that. Fitz worked three days straight on some prototype and then left it on a table a little too close to Ward. The temptation was almost visible.)

While she’s been preoccupied with Ward, Chapman’s managed to strike up a conversation with Weaver and Fitz has wandered off to attract a crowd beneath some trees. Kids are coming off the paths to meet him, she even sees a few snapping selfies.

“He’s popular, huh?”

Chapman cuts off mid-sentence to look around. She smiles. “I told you, he’s a celebrity around here. And the fact that it’s not just him but _Sim_ -”

“Jemma!” Weaver says warmly, and a woman Fitz’s age slips between Skye and Chapman to give her a brief hug.

“Anne,” she says. “You’re looking lovely.”

Somehow Fitz extracts himself from his admirers to approach them. “Simmons,” he says and that plus his tone is enough to fill in all the blanks in Skye’s head.

“Ohhhh,” she says. Simmons is a girl. Fitz is in love with Simmons. Everything makes _so_ much more sense now.

She kinda feels bad about teasing him about his third sweater change though.

She _also_ finds herself the center of attention all of a sudden. “Uh, sorry. I just … got a joke. He wished his head was an orange. Now I get it.”

No one else does, but Skye instantly takes a liking to Simmons when she recovers first. “Agent Chapman, isn’t it?” she asks, holding her hand out for Chapman to—somewhat reverently—take. “I read your paper on the Chitauri virus and was impressed with your method for isolating the pathogen. I am sorry it cost your team a member though. Do you know if Agent Hastings is recovering well?”

“Oh, wow,” Chapman says. “Th- thanks. That’s- wow. Um, yes. Jung is doing just fine. I think he’s given up field work permanently though.”

“Well I can’t say I blame him after going through something like that.”

“Simmons.” That’s Fitz, at Simmons’ side. Skye kinda aches for the poor guy. He looks like a puppy.

“Fitz,” Simmons says flatly. She doesn’t even look at him while she says it.

“Right. Sorry.” He doesn’t really sound it, but since Skye can’t imagine what he’s done wrong in the ten seconds he’s been around her, she doesn’t blame him. “You look good.”

“Thank you,” Simmons says in that same distant tone. She smiles at Weaver. “It’s been a long flight. I think I’d like to prepare for the lecture-”

“Right,” Fitz says, “we can go over notes-”

“-privately,” Simmons finishes.

“Of course,” Weaver says. “It was nice seeing you again, Alice. And meeting you, Skye.” She gives Fitz a sympathetic look before leading Simmons to the nearest building. Fitz’s admirers gape openly as they pass.

And Fitz? He looks like his dog just died.

“Right,” he says. His face scrunches up. “Right.” He turns on his heel and heads back to his fans with the fakest smile Skye has ever seen. Poor guy.

“I,” she says while the crowd closes around him, “am gonna go find my SO.”

“Ward told you to stay with us,” Chapman reminds her.

“Yeah, but once I tell him how completely awkward the Fitz-Simmons reunion is, he’s not gonna blame me for wanting to escape the encore. I’ll catch up with you later.”

“Skye-”

She runs off before Chapman can say something reasonable enough to keep her here.

 

 

=====

 

 

She doesn’t find Ward on her circuit of the campus. She _does_ meet five different security guards, all curious as to why a student is so far from the big event, but no Ward. And none of the security guards have seen him either. Which she guesses isn’t so weird. He’s probably using this as an excuse to practice his ninja skills. He’s probably been watching her this whole time from the shadows and he’ll have notes for her later on how hard she failed at tracking him.

When she gets back to where she started, she gives it up and figures Ward went on ahead to the lecture already. She books it in the direction Weaver took Simmons earlier, hoping it’ll just be obvious which building it is since she didn’t bother to get directions before ditching the others.

It is, as it turns out, obvious. Because kids start streaming out of the building as Skye nears it.

She hesitates, wondering if maybe they’re just coming from class because there is no way this lecture could’ve taken so little time.

“Did you see Fitz?” one of the kids nearest her asks and Skye’s stomach twists. Or the lecture _could_ have been cut short if maybe the awkwardness between the two alumni giving it was so bad it had to be shut down to prevent mass casualties due to second-hand embarrassment.

Skye pushes deeper into the crowd, hearing more snatches of conversation.

“-probably the best day of his life-”

“-have to stick around-”

“-he just _froze_ -”

“-giving orders to Simmons-” Skye twists, trying to peg whoever said that. She can think of two people who might have gone and inserted themselves into the awkward.

“Who knew Chapman was such a badass?”

Of course it was Chapman. Skye can all too easily imagine her getting over her hero worship to defend her teammate. Loudly. And publicly.

“But what I don’t get is who would even care about Gill enough to target him.”

“Wait,” Skye says, whirling again. “Who’s Gill?” And what does he have to do with Skye’s team drama?

A group of three kids gives her a level look and for a second Skye is back in high school after she just walked into the wrong bathroom.

“He’s the one who almost froze to death,” the girl on the right says.

“At the pool. Right.” Skye knew that.

“No. That was Dormer and Hannigan. Gill’s the one who almost got frozen solid at the lecture. Where have you been?”

Okay. So her team’s drama didn’t ruin the lecture, but Skye’s cramping stomach doesn’t feel any better. If anything, it’s worse.

She jumps up on one of the decorative planters lining the walkway and sprints down it to bypass the crowd.

She knows there’s little chance she’d have been able to stop it, but she feels like she let Ward down. What if it’d been Chapman or Fitz who was frozen? She should’ve been there to look out for them.

But Chapman and Fitz are fine. They’re down on the stage with Weaver when Skye bursts in. Chapman gives her a wave and a smile, but Skye’s too busy being glad they’re alive to return it.

If there’s any sign left of the attack, she can’t see it. The place looks normal—or what Skye figures is normal since she never went to any school like this one. But a sweep of the room does prove it’s more than just the three of them left. She can just see Ward’s hair disappear past the balcony ledge and, since the others seem okay, decides to check in with him.

At the least it’ll give her heart some time to slow back down to a less cardiac arrest-y pace.

That in mind, she takes her time heading for the elevator in the hall. The team is safe, she tells herself repeatedly. And, even if Coulson is up to something too strenuous (which he definitely is, she doesn’t believe for a second he’s “going sightseeing” like he said when he dropped them off) it can’t possibly be worse than what they’ve gotten into here.

She’s just about back to normal when she reaches the balcony door. And good thing too because if her heart hadn’t calmed down first, what she finds up there might kill her.

Ward’s here all right, but he’s not alone. There’s a woman with him. And the two of them are playing some old fashioned tonsil hockey.

“Oh!” Skye covers her eyes. “Oh my God!” She hears Ward curse and his … female companion stifles a laugh. “Wow. _Wow_. You don’t waste any time, do you, Ward?”

A rough hand grabs one of Skye’s hands but she keeps her eyes screwed shut.

“Skye-” Ward says once the door shuts behind them.

“No!” she says, waving a finger wildly in the direction of his voice. “I do not wanna hear it!”

“Well,  _I_ do.”

Skye knows that voice. She dares to look and yep, the woman—with the mussed hair that just screams make-outs—is _Simmons_.

She turns an amused smile on Ward. “You ‘don’t waste any time’? Do you make a habit of this sort of thing?”

“No!” Skye yells again, loud enough that both of them jump. “I _told you_ not to cause trouble-”

“Skye-”

“-but you just had to get one up on Fitz, didn’t you? Can’t you just _pretend_ you don’t hate him? I mean that’s basically your whole job, isn’t it? Just pretend you’re undercover for like _five hours_ and maybe don’t make out with the girl he’s in love with!”

Simmons’ scowl darkens and she crosses her arms over her chest. Skye doesn’t blame her. It sucks being a pawn in a pissing contest between two guys.

Ward sighs. “Skye. This is Jemma-”

“Yeah, I know who she is.” That’s kinda the whole point.

“-Ward. My wife.”

Skye stares. But again, Simmons- Ward- No, no way, that’s never gonna work. _Jemma_ is there to step in and save her pride.

“I’d like to get back to this thing about you picking up women.”

“I do not ‘pick up women,’” Ward says. Jemma’s already stepping into his arms though, smiling like she never believed it in the first place. “Skye’s just dramatic.”

“She seems rather surprised to meet me.”

And that’s when Skye finally finds her voice again. “You’re _married_?!”

“See?”

Ward sighs, using the move to pull Jemma even closer. Which is … weird. Since when is Ward all touchy-feely?

“I told you I was married,” he says over Jemma’s head.

“No, you didn’t.” She thinks she would remember finding out that Agent Robot was _married_.

“On your first day? En route to Peru?”

Skye sputters. “I thought you were making that up! I thought you were just embarrassed about flirting with me!”

“You flirted with her?” Jemma pouts.

“Coulson pretended to inject me with truth serum,” Ward says like it’s nothing. “A little self-flagellating flattery puts the target at ease.”

“Wait,” Skye says. “Does this mean he doesn’t really have a Gramsy?”

“Don’t answer that,” Ward says quickly.

Jemma bites down a laugh.

It’s— _they’re—_ cute. The banter, the smiles, the touching. Skye’s still not sure how she’s gonna connect this guy with her stiff and serious SO, but she likes the picture he makes with Jemma.

Of course that picture also makes a whole lot of things clearer. “This is why you and Fitz don’t get along, isn’t it?”

“You didn’t tell her?” Jemma asks. “Really, Grant, finally someone who you could tell first and you don’t even bother.”

“It’s none of her business.”

“She’s on a team with _you and Fitz_. How is it not her business?”

Before Ward can answer—assuming he even has one—the elevator dings and the doors open.

“There you guys are!” Chapman says a little too loudly. “See?” She gently backhands Fitz’s shoulder. “I told you I saw Skye on the balcony.”

“Uh huh.”

And yep. Skye’s pretty sure the answer to her question is a big, fat yes. That or Fitz just really hates happy couples for some reason.

“Yeah, here I am.” She tries to steer them back into the elevator. “Why don’t we go back downstairs and you can tell me all about the attack?”

“Or we could stay here and plan what to do about it,” Chapman says.

“Huh?”

“Weaver’s asked us to investigate,” Ward says.

Meaning all five of them are gonna have to work together. Yay.

“I always knew I’d hate higher education,” Skye mutters while letting go of Fitz and Chapman so they can join the lovebirds. This is gonna go so, so badly.

 

 

=====

 

 

It really doesn’t though. Fitz opts to talk to the kid who got frozen and Chapman disappears to grill the campus nurse so it’s just Skye and the Wards in SciTech’s not-so-secret, against-the-rules hangout, the Boiler Room.

Skye drops a trio of drinks on the table. “That’s Hannigan,” she says, nodding to the brunette playing pool. “The bartender tells me she’s been gunning hard for a spot at the Sandbox, but she just lost her top spot. _And_ she was at the pool when the first attack happened.”

Ward throws back his shot. “She’s not gonna like me. Everyone saw me at the lecture. She’ll know who I am.”

Jemma takes a sip of her beer. “Tell her it’s for me.”

Ward drops a kiss on her cheek. “You always did wanna go into the field.”

“Yes, yes, go.” She shoves him away and he heads for the tables.

“So Ward’s gonna pretend…”

“That he’s building a team of his own. One which will include me. The cadets here might be against Grant on principle but none of them will turn down the chance to collaborate with me. That should get Hannigan talking.”

Smart. Even if she’s not behind the attacks, anyone that determined to be top of her class is gonna know who _could’ve_ done it.

“And,” Skye says slowly, “what would it take to get _you_ to talk?”

Jemma smiles as she takes another sip. Ward’s already talked his way into the game and is leaning over the table, giving them—giving Jemma more likely—a pretty blatant look at his ass. “You want to know what happened between the three of us.”

“I mean, I can guess. You and Fitz had a thing. Ward got in the way. Broken hearts. Hurt feelings. All that stuff.”

“That’s the general impression, yes.”

Skye takes her attention off Ward to really look at Jemma. “But that’s not what happened.”

“No. No, it is not.” She turns her bottle between her thumb and forefinger, taking just way too much interest in it. “The truth is, Grant is the innocent one in all of this. Fitz and I- I knew people assumed we were in a relationship. It’s why I didn’t properly introduce myself to Grant when we first met, I didn’t want him turning me down out of some sense of masculine respect. But I thought that was simply a common misconception, I didn’t think Fitz truly had those sorts of feelings for me.”

“But he does.”

Jemma winces. “Yes. He never told me—and maybe I’d missed the signs—not until…”

“Until?” Skye presses.

Jemma meets her stare with a pained smile. “My wedding day.”

“Wooooow.” Skye kinda hates Fitz now.

“I think he was trying to be romantic,” Jemma says carefully. “And he at least had the common sense to do it privately rather than making a scene during the ceremony. But after that I couldn’t be around him. I requested a transfer and I haven’t worked with Fitz since—until all of this, of course. Of course Grant wanted to know _why_ I wanted to be away from my best friend and I’ve always been a terrible liar, so there was never much choice but to tell him the truth.” She sighs. “I’m afraid that’s what’s caused the animosity between them.”

“Yeah, that’d do it- _Oh_.”

“What?”

Skye bites her lip, wondering if she should say. But Jemma’s already shared all her secrets and really this is more her business anyway. “A few months ago, Ward was exposed to an alien artifact-”

“The berserker staff, yes.”

At least she’s not gonna get in trouble for saying something Jemma’s not cleared to know. “When he was getting the worst of it, he kinda blew up at us in the lab. He said something to Fitz about how _she told him_. I’m guessing you’re the she?”

Jemma closes her eyes as if in pain. “Yes. I imagine I am.”

Skye’s only known Jemma a couple hours, but she’s Ward’s wife so she figures that gives her a little familiarity. She reaches out to put a hand on hers. “It’s not your fault.”

“Maybe not. And please don’t blame Fitz either. I’m rather biased because of Grant, but Fitz has his own side of things and we really were the best of friends. I can’t imagine he did what he did for malicious reasons.”

It’s still a dick move, trying to ruin Ward’s wedding day. But Skye will do her best to keep an open mind.

“What was SHIELD thinking?” she asks, not really expecting an answer. “Those two on the same team is the _worst_ idea.”

Jemma downs the rest of her drink. “I imagine they thought what you did at first: that our alienation is entirely Grant’s doing and that if he can only get over his feelings for Fitz, he’ll allow me to renew our friendship.” She gives Skye a bitter smile. “You may have noticed that most people take Fitz’s side. Or, more precisely, Fitz-Simmons’ side. Though they all seem to forget I’m a Ward now.”

Skye’s got nothing to say to that, so she’s glad when Ward comes back in a rush. Less glad though when he tells them they’ve been played.

 

 

=====

 

 

Skye’s brain hurts. Like, literally, physically hurts. She thinks it’s just absorbed too much information in too short a time.

Ward is married.

To the woman Fitz is in love with.

Donnie Gill and Seth Dormer were working together.

For Ian Quinn.

SHIELD agents rescued her from a massacre when she was a baby.

Every time she thought a family didn’t want her it was really SHIELD protecting her.

She’s an 0-8-4.

So yeah, big day.

Which is why she’s out here on the catwalk. From here she can hear the sound of voices in the lab and in the lounge. It’s like being surrounded by people without being a part of whatever’s going on. It’s comforting without being oppressive.

And it’s not spying. Or not supposed to be. It’s really not her fault that the Wards don’t notice her sitting over their heads when they get all PDA by the stairs.

Can she just say? Gross.

“I’m sorry about today,” Ward says.

“And I’m sorry about the team. Are you certain you don’t want me to poison Fitz?”

Ward _smiles—_ like a real person and everything—and cups her face in his hands to kiss her again. “No,” he says, sounding sorry about it. “Everyone will blame me.”

“I can make it look like an aneurysm.” She yelps, jumping closer into his arms. Skye does _not_ want to think about what Ward did where she can’t see to get that reaction.

“You keep offering, I might just take you up on it.”

“Oh, fine. But I’m still sorry.”

“So am I.” He leans in close to her and it’s dead silent in the cargo bay, which is the only reason Skye can hear him say, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Jemma sighs.

Skye decides now’s a good time to test her quiet-on-her-feet skills. She slips carefully towards the wall, using it to lever herself up, and heads into the lounge. She even thinks she makes it without being heard. Cool.

Only she’s not as safe as she’d hoped because Fitz is sitting at the bar. For a second, Skye wants to smack him, but then she remembers what Jemma said about it being both their faults and figures she’ll give him a chance.

“Hey,” she says, moving around the bar to pour him another drink.

“Thanks.”

“So,” she says, not sure how to start this. “Do you wanna talk about the cadets or about how you and Ward have the same taste in women?”

Fitz laughs roughly. “Is neither an option?”

Skye shrugs. “If you want it to be. But I did hear some things today.”

“Yeah, I’m sure Ward had a lot to say about it.”

“Yeah,” Skye says, “ _she_ did.”

That gets a wince out of him. He sets his drink down, half-finished. “I didn’t realize how I felt about her until it was too late, okay? And now it’s easier to hate him for noticing her first instead of…”

“Instead of hating yourself for missing your shot,” Skye finishes for him. She can see that.

But she also knows what it’s like to have things unsaid. She’s spent a lifetime chasing answers and finally having them—even if they’re not what she’d hoped for—it’s better than nothing.

“Today, when you were freaking out about seeing her, was that about winning her over or-”

“I just wanna be friends again.” He sighs and looks towards the catwalk. “She loves him. I don’t know _why_ but she does. And I’ve broken her heart enough. I won’t wanna mess them up.”

Well, that’s a relief. Regardless of what Jemma said, Skye would’ve had to vibe Fitz until the end of time if he was still trying to break up Ward’s marriage. “So maybe tell her that.”

Fitz looks incredulous.

Skye returns the look with one of her own that’s twice as judgy. “Nothing’s ever gonna get fixed if you don’t _talk_ to each other. I’m not saying it’s gonna be easy but at least if you try and fail you won’t be wondering _what if_ for the rest of forever. Besides, she deserves to know how you feel. They both do.”

Fitz takes another look at his drink before pushing off from the bar. “Yeah, maybe you’re-”

Skye catches his sleeve and he wobbles just a little too much. “Of course I’m right. But you’re too drunk for a serious conversation and they’re too cozy right now for you to be walking in on them. We’ve still got debriefs in the morning. You can talk to them then.”

“Right. You’re right. Again. Thanks, Skye.” He turns for his bunk and she watches him go.

She pours herself a celebratory drink. Today was pretty much horrible even before a cadet lost his life, but tomorrow’s at least looking a little more hopeful.

 


End file.
